Will BJP pick a Dalit or rely on OBC, upper caste face again?

Key challenge for the BJP is countering opposition's caste mobilisation, particularly the Samajwadi Party's PDA

- Brajendra K Parashar

LUCKNOW: With the district-level elections having been completed more than a week ago, the BJP is now set to appoint its new Uttar Pradesh state president. The decision will play a crucial role in chalking out the party's strategy for the 2027 assembly elections and the civic polls immediately thereafter.

The key challenge for the BJP is, however, countering the opposition's caste mobilization, particularly the Samajwadi Party's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) formula.

A major question looming over the selection process is whether the BJP will appoint a Dalit leader as its state president—something that has probably never happened in U.P. since 1980 when Madhav Prasad Trivedi, an upper caste Brahmin, was elected the party's (then Jansangh) first U.P. chief. Or will the party once again bet on an upper caste or Other Backward Classes (OBC) face? According to BJP insiders given the growing focus on social engineering in the state with the principal Opposition also aggressively mobilising voters on caste lines especially since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party (BJP) may consider the move to elect a Dalit the party chief in U.P. to consolidate its Dalit vote bank.